Let’s get this disaster started.
Creative Staff:
Story: Marc Guggenheim
Art: Andrea Mutti
Colors: Chris Sotomayor
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
What They Say:
The Colonizer Empire was created to fight a threat from beyond the stars, but now that the Colonizers have fallen, the ancient enemy has resurfaced. And where does Raader and her crew find themselves? The last place they would expect to be: on the bridge of Colonizer ship!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The original series spent so much time on the fight against the Colonizers and what that empire representative that I really like the idea presented here that it was an outgrowth of something else. Marc Guggenheim has put Raader and what constitutes her team in a difficult place but one where they must move forward and that’s what really gets underway here. Andrea Mutti has delighted me with the first two issues with what Sotomayor does in coloring it and that works just as well here in giving us something that feels like it’s a throwback to the original in some ways but also taking on more and more of its own personality and style.
With the Sidari now returning, the newly formed government that has taken over for the Empire is out of options – and ships, for the most part. That has them seeking help from Raader for obvious reasons but it’s amusing in a classic kind of way that she’s just interested in drinking herself blind for the rest of her days. Which doesn’t go over well with the rest but they make a mildly compelling case in showing what’s coming and what the empire was originally formed to fight. The problem is that Raader has no ship any longer and that means it’s time for a new one, and a Colonizer ship at that. I love the surreal nature of her taking one over as captain but also how she handles discovering that Logik has ended up there as well. How she hasn’t truly killed him at this point…
A lot of what this issue becomes after that is a quick encounter and a whole lot of action as they make contact with the Sidari. Or rather, they come across each other in space and it turns to crazy combat and a boarding situation as the Colonizer ship the Harbinger gets pretty damaged. Mutti puts together some fun action and I like the weird stick-alien designs that we get and that they’re not exactly conversational about things as they fight. I’m less interested in what happens to Servitor in getting nearly killed so quickly, we’ve had too many losses already, and because it relies on Raader’s powers once again that feel ill-defined. But I did like the reveal of what the real goal of the Sidari is and that the Colonizer empire isn’t even on their radar.
In Summary:
Swashbucklers is a fun book across the first three issues as it sets the stakes for what’s happening after the empire falls. My only real issue is that things are moving at such a fast pace that it’s not getting enough time to develop the character side and process what’s happened and what’s going on with them. The losses have been big, the nature of how the empire runs has been altered, and now a new threat is already here with almost nothing available to provide defense. The book does have a good bit of energy and enthusiasm about it and Andrea Mutti’s artwork continues to click for me in a big way as we get lots of fun looking aliens and ships to deal with. But it still feels like it needs a little something extra to tie it all together.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: June 6th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
